How to Get Gems in Monster Hunter World

As you progress through Monster Hunter: World and begin crafting rarer items, you’ll require materials that aren’t always easy to come by. Gems are a common ingredient the smithy requires to perform weapon upgrades, so I’ve recently found myself trying to farm these elusive drops and carves, which can be a tedious task made worse if you don’t know exactly how to go about it. Because each gem is different, I’ll explain how to drill down to the best methods available no matter which gem it is you seek.

Gems at the Elder Melder

You can trade items at the elder melder for gems, but the item you need to trade is the Gold Wyverian Print. This item can only be obtained in three ways, two of which aren’t repeatable. One is to complete the piscine researcher critical bounties, one is to complete the endemic life researcher critical bounties, and the last is to complete all the weekly limited bounties found at the resource center. The weekly limited bounties are available each week as the name suggests, but the first two methods are one and done. You cannot do them again.

Gems from Drops and Carves

What if you need a gem right now and the elder melder isn’t an option? Hopefully luck is on your side, but there are a few things that you can do to increase your odds.

Begin by identifying the monster that will drop the gem you need. In the case of items like the Anjanath Gem, the name speaks volumes. The Anjanath is your target if you want the gem to drop, but you must now do some research. Head out on a high rank expedition or an Anjanath investigation specifically. Spend time picking up Anjanath tracks and other signs of the monster, increasing your research level as you go. When you get your research level all the way to six, it’s time for you to return to Astera and speak with the chief ecologist.

High Rank Rewards Details

At the chief ecologist, view the high rank rewards for the monster you need to hunt to get your desired gem. It’s here you can get the details on how to go about your business. Using the Anjanath as our running example, we can see that the Anjanath Gem is only available as a carve, and not a reward. This means you must literally carve the gem off the creature you’re fighting, which is done by breaking and severing pieces from it. In the case of the Anjanath, breaking the head or tail of the beast gives me a low shot (one out of five stars) of carving the Anjanath Gem. My goal will now be to load into Anjanath investigations and farm them, focusing my damage on breaking the head and severing the tail of this monster.

To provide one more example, look at the high rank rewards for the Tobi-Kadachi, which gives you the highly sought-after Wyvern Gem. It’s listed as both a possible carve and reward, but no body parts are specified as needing to be broken. Still, break as many parts as you can, but know that you have a one out of five-star chance of getting the Wyvern Gem at the rewards screen once the hunt is completed.

Complete Gold Reward Investigations

When you head to the research center in Astera, visit the manage investigations section and you can see that each potential investigation has a rewards section. This consists of several boxes that are colored bronze, silver, and gold. Gold boxes mean the rewards for completing that investigation are likely to provide you with more rare items, one of which could be a gem you’re seeking. Keep in mind, though, that you can only get a gem to drop as a reward if it shows up in the rewards section of the high rank rewards page when you research the monster.

The catch with investigations that give gold rewards is that they are often more difficult. Some will come with a reduced time limit, reduced max player count, and even a reduced amount of times you can faint during the hunt. Some may even require you to hunt multiple monsters at the same time. Better rewards mean a bigger challenge, which is to be expected.

Putting it all together, let’s assume I’m looking for the Wyvern Gem. I’ll check the elder melder to see if I can craft it, making sure I’ve completed all the tasks available that reward me with the Gold Wyverian Print. If that’s not an option, I’ll load into an investigation featuring the Tobi-Kadachi and at least some gold rewards. Because the Wyvern Gem is a carve or reward from the Tobi-Kadachi, I’ll focus on breaking parts of the beast during the fight and checking my rewards screen after to see if my gem dropped. It will most likely require some farming no matter what gem you seek, but at least now you know the ins and outs of how to approach it.

Bill, who is also known as Rumpo, is a lifelong gamer and Toronto Maple Leafs fan. He is known for his guide writing and, unsettlingly enough, enjoys grinding out in-depth collectible articles. Tweet him @RumpoPlays if you have a question or comment about one of his guides.